“Heir,” he spoke in a bewildered tone—­“me an heir?”

“Yes,” said Luke.

“Heir to what?”

“Why—­oh, something, I don’t know what.  But the thing you’re heir to is there.”

“Where?” persisted Andy.

“I don’t know that, either—­Fairview, I reckon.”

“Nonsense.  I’ve got nothing at Fairview excepting a lot of debts.  I wish you’d explain yourself, Luke.  There can’t be anything to your absurd statement.”

“Can’t there?” cried Luke excitedly.  “Well, you just listen and see—­”

“Oh, Wildwood—­been looking for you,” interrupted some one, just there.

Andy looked up to recognize Marco.  The latter nodded to Luke, and proceeded to lead Andy away with him.

“Hold on,” demurred Luke.

“You’ll have to excuse your friend just now,” said Marco.  “Very important, Wildwood,” he added.

“What is it, Mr. Marco?” inquired Andy.

Marco showed two folded sheets of writing paper in his hand.

“Your contract with the circus,” he explained.  “There’s a bad hitch in this business.  Hope to straighten it out, but we’ll have to get right at it.  Come to Billy Blow’s tent.  I want to have a private talk with you.”

Andy traced a seriousness in Marco’s manner that oppressed him.  Instantly all his mind was fixed on the matter of the contracts.

“I’ll see you a little later, Luke,” he said to his young friend.

“All right,” nodded Luke.  “I’ve got a good deal to tell you.  But it will keep.”

When they reached the clown’s tent Marco sat down on the bench beside Andy.

“Business, Wildwood,” he spoke, briskly tapping the papers in his hand.  “I wanted to get you fixed right, and started right in to get a contract from Mr. Scripps.”

“Is that it?” asked Andy.

“Yes, and favorable in every way—­your end of it, and the circus end is all right.  But there’s another end.  That is it.  I reckon you’d better get the gist of the trouble by reading it over.”

Marco separated one of the written sheets and passed it to Andy.

“Oh, dear!” cried the latter in dismay the moment his eyes had taken in the general subject matter of the screed before him.  “That settles it.”

Andy’s face ran quickly from consternation to utter gloom.

The document before him was a legally-worded affair awaiting a signature.  It stated that “Miss Lavinia Talcott, guardian relative of Andrew Wildwood, minor, hereby agreed to hold the circus management free from any blame, damage or indemnity in case of accident to the said Andrew Wildwood, this day and date a contracted employee of said circus management.”

“She’ll never sign it!” cried Andy positively.  “How did they come to bring her name into this business, anyhow?”

“Hold hard.  Don’t get excited, Wildwood,” advised Marco.  “Business is business, even if it is unpleasant sometimes.  You’ve got the facts.  Don’t grumble at them.  Let’s see how we can remedy things.”